"The family who last lived in the house
before the college acquired it (sorry cant remember their name) were
a little bit eccentric (nicely) and had an en suite room especially
for their Pekingese dogs. It smelled
of dog pee long after they had gone.

There was even a small dog cemetery,
complete with headstones (removed by college) to the front of the
house near the impressive statue (removed by college) of
King James V on
a horse.
It's a pity that I was not really interested who he was in
these days.

- long drive,
alive with daffodils in spring and, best
of all, the multi coloured rhododendrons.

Cottage

"The Winfield family, who worked for the
previous owners, were given a small cottage in,
what was then, the corner of a field at
the top of the road up from Corstorphine.
They were to have this cottage until the death of the mother. The wall to the cottage used to have a post box built into
it."

New Houses

"Clermiston council housing was being
built at the time and, though I went to
Corstorphine Primary School, I played with
the kids from the scheme which was slowly filling up.My dad used to let them play football in the field which was
to the front of the house.

Keeping Pigeons

"Keeping
pigeons was also big in these days and the woods between the scheme
and the house were a prime place for kids,
pigeon lofts to be built.

I
remember tumblers were much sought after,
and remember going into town to a pet shop
in Cockburn Street, just down the steps,to
get fantails.

Does anyone remember the kids' recognition
call? It was a bit like 'eeoo eep.'

Riding a Bull

"I remember, in
the bottom field, trying to ride a
smallish bull,bareback, and
being sent through the air. I
obviously survived."

No Damage

"The kids were a good lot,
in general. They never did any
damage to the estate which, was right on
their doorsteps. My
dad used to do his rounds in the evening with our fat family dog and
gave plenty warning of his approach with occasional loud shouts
of 'Get the hell out of there',
even if he couldn't see anyone."

The End

"Clermiston House was a great place
which had a sad and unnecessary end"

The Dough School, as it was more commonly
known, was located at that time in 1 to 4
Atholl Cres, occupying the first 4
'houses' and taught domestic science teachers and chefs etc.

The Dough School was a fond name.Glasgow also had a Domestic College
called, fondly,
the Dough School."

The Dough School

"After the Dough School move to Clermiston,
the building in Atholl Cres was demolished retaining the frontage
and rebuild with large floor plates as headquarters for General
Accident Insurance in Edinburgh. Subsequently GA moved
out and the building was taken over by Grant Thornton accountants
and investment advisers."

Queen Margaret
University

"Over the years,
the Dough School started to diversify its courses and changed its
name to Queen Margaret College, then to Queen Margaret University
College and now is Queen Margaret University.

Queen Margaret Universityhas now has moved to a new campus near
Musselburgh. It is very much to the
fore in nursing and other medical courses.
A full history can be found on the Queen
Margaret University web
site."

Danny Callaghan, Falkirk,
Stirlingshire, Scotland: November 11, 2010

Recollections

3.

Marjorie Loquet
(née
Laidlaw)

Dorset, England

Thank you to Marjorie Loquet for posting this
message in the EdinPhoto guestbook:

Clermiston
House

Owners

"The owners of Clermiston House before those you mention were the
Dukes of Sutherland also known as Leveson-Gower or
Granville Leveson-Gower."

"Im trying to locate a Children's Home in order
to trace a child who lived there in the
1970s. He's one of the people in a family tree
that I'm
researching.

This child’s half sibling remembers as a small boy visiting his
brother in the home, in the 1970s when he would
have been 8-years-old. He thinksthe
home was called Clarewood and that it was
in Drumbrae, Edinburgh.

Can you,
or anyone involved in the history of this area,
throw some light on which home this might have
been? It is not listed on Barnardo's
list. If I cannot find a correct
name for the homemy search at this point
may be in vain."

Barbara Fleming, Livingston, West
Lothian, Scotland: June 10+11, 2014

Reply to Barbara

Hi Barbara: I think that if you look
under the name of Clerwood Children's Home (rather than Clarewood
Children's Home) you may find what you are looking for.

If you have any information about the home or
memories of it, and would like to contact Barbara,
please email me, then I'll pass on her email address to you.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:
June 10, 2014

Recollections

6.

Ray Melville

Rosyth, Fife,
Scotland

Thank you to Ray Melville who wrote:

Fox Covert
Hotel

"The Fox Covert Hotel
was in fact built around a bungalow, named Fox Covert.
I'm sure it was
a guest house to begin with and was owned by Fred Ford, the builder. Part way through its development, the original house could
still be seen among the extensions.

Clermiston
House

"I don't remember Clermiston House on
the west of Clermiston Road. Maybe
it became Queen Margaret College.

My memory is a touch hazy about Drum
Brae Drive, as that area was built in the mid 1950s.
I don't know if Drum Brae
Drive was constructed then or existed previously.

Cycling Proficiency
was taught on the Drum Brae estate roads
before any houses were built there, around
1956 or 1957."

Edmonsbury

"I stayed at
'Edmondsbury' which was 69 Clermiston Road. It was a large estate with a fine house,
built in 1880, now demolished. It
had two mews houses over the old stables and coach house, one
of which I lived in with my parents.

The estate was cleared around the early
1970s, I think,
and flats were built there by W & JR
Watsons, whose head office was at that time in Romano House, near
the Corstorphine Railway Station.
Although I lived there from 1953 till 1966/7 I cannot recall the
houses as described.

1912 Map

"I've just
looked at the Bartholemew Map of 1912, and have
found these houses at Clermiston on the map.

- Hillwood
was an old house on the
corner of Cairnmuir Road and Clermiston
Road.

- Clerwood was
further to the north, opposite Queen Margaret College.

-
Clermiston Housewas
around where Rannoch Road is now and would have
been beside Buttercup Farm.

- The Lea is also
shown on the map, but I have no memory of that at all

Ray Melville, Rosyth, Fife,
Scotland: June 11, 2014

Recollections

7.

Linda Chatwin

Livingston,
West Lothian, Scotland

Thank you to Linda Chatwin who wrote:

Clerwood
Children's Home

"My colleague,
Barbara Fleming,and I are looking for
David Stuart Willis, one of the children
who resided at Clerwood Children's Home in
the 1960s and 1970s.

Can you help at all?

Linda Chatwin, Livingston, West
Lothian, Scotland: August 13, 2014

Reply to Linda

If you can suggest how Linda might be able to
contact David Willis, please email me to let me know, then I'll pass
on Linda's email address to you.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:
August 17, 2014

Recollections

8.

Ian Thomson

Lake Maquarie, New South Wales,
Australia

Thank you to Ian Thomson who wrote:

Clerwood House

"My memory from the 1940s
is that Clerwood House was opposite theButtercup Farm, close
to Corrie Woods.

I seem to remember an under-agedfootball team named
Clerwood, but I don't remember a boys'
home."

"I moved to
Drum Brae Drive in March 1955. Before, we were bussed to
Carrick Knowe Primary when the estate grew, we spent the summer term
at Fox Covert House.

I cannot find any
reference to this house, and would welcome any information that
people can give me. This house was in amongst a wood just off Drum
Brae Drive behind where the Clermiston Inn is now. I was 6.

Is this the
domestic science college."

Maureen Ritchie, Tenerife: 7 February, 2014

Reply to
Maureen?

If you'd like to send a reply to Maureen,
please email me to let me know, then I'll pass on her email
address to you.

The College of Domestic Science was built on a field at the rear of
the old Clermiston House. In the early 1960s there were at
least 6 fields surrounding Clermiston House and they were used by an
Edinburgh butchers to graze cattle.

I can remember a huge international Boy Scout Jubilee in the large
field nearest to where the Fox Covert Hotel stood.

The smaller field next to it, going down the slight slope was where
the college was built. The link below to the Canmore web site gives
an exact position of where the old Fox Covert House stood and also
some digital images of architects' drawings."